Shirt

A woman's shirt of cream spun silk with a black print of flower motifs, c. 1985-1986.

Graham Fraser and Richard Nott launched their label Workers for Freedom, in 1985. Fraser had been a merchandising manager at Liberty, while Nott was principal fashion lecturer at Kingston University in Surrey. He had also worked for three years as design assistant to Valentino. The reason behind the formation of their own label was their mutual disillusion with what was happening in menswear at the time and their aversion to styles with little or no decorative adornment. The company name was chosen to emphasize what they saw as their freedom from the large companies for whom they had previously worked. Workers for Freedom was named Designer of the Year for 1989.

The first Workers for Freedom collectionwas only menswear and sold through their retail shop in Lower John Street in Soho. Their signature garment was the embroidered shirt, in black-on-white or white-on-black combinations. This piece reflects this in a printed version. The success of this first collection prompted Workers for Freedom to extend the next collection to womenswear. Nott has said that the inspriation for the early pieces came from the fabric.

Nott and Fraser's designs were outside mainstream fashion trends. Though not anti-fashion exactly, the evolutionary nature of their designs meant that each season customers could add an outfit or single garment to those from previous collections. During the 1990s Workers for Freedom moved their base to France, then Battersea, dropped embroidery as a hallmark, emphasised bias cutting, and expanded into the U.S. sportswear market.

The shirt front has two panels with a centre front opening that is lined with deep plain silk facings topstitched vertically at the inner edges. The cream spun silk has large black printed motifs that have a botanical theme showing flowers and leaves. On either side panel there is a large plain cream silk patch pocket placed over the breast. Six metal buttons of differing sizes and design fasten the front opening leading to a plain tuurned down collar. The long sleeves have a deep cuff opening, pleated into the back cuff with three odd metal buttons fastening the opening and the plain cuff band. All edges are topstitched. The shirt has a deep shoulder yoke of a contrasting print showing broken horizontal lines hand painted appearance lined with the same fabric. The back panel is of one piece with one pleat at either side of the top where it joins the yoke.